Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Thoughts

At the risk of sounding like a 'Chicken Soul for the Soul' Story that didn't quite make the cut, I was thinking about why we don't celebrate differences and what makes us all unique.
Scorp Daughter in Grade 4[who is the kindest person I know] tells me stories every week about a little boy at her school in Grade 1, who is very different to the rest of his peers. As the year draws to a close she is more aware that she is moving campus at the end of this year to start at The Big School. She worries that he won't have any friends and that people will be impatient with him.
Recently when I dropped off at school I told her I loved her as she climbed the stairs, as she reached the top she said it loudly back to me. This divine little boy from across the school, who heard her saying "I love you", yelled back at the top of his lungs,"I love you too!"
Bless him, my eyes filled with tears at his passion for his friend and protector and also at his inhibitions for living, yet I know he will find it hard in this world without the likes of the Scorp Lightworker at his side: defending, comforting and encouraging.
We ask ourselves and our young to strive to be better, faster, to have more and be more but what value is being kind, passionate, unusual. What value are we to society when we think and do things differently than the majority?
I encourage Scorp Daughter not to judge the kids around her who are unusual, "They are the great thinkers of the future" I tell her, provided their parents don't have them medicated. Einstein didn't speak till he was 7, chances are now, he would have taken to all manner of early intervention and then medicated and sent to a special school.
I had a friend whose brother wore a deflated beach ball on his head for 3 years. In every family photo he is there with the striped plastic flat ball on his head, he is now the white collar professional and father of 3, who knew?
The Playground is tough sometimes but there are some that play fair have fun whilst you are out there and when someone does something they find hard or they do something differently applaud and let them take a bow, its all a game, so play nice!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chicken soup -
You bring a tear to my eye, Dreamweaver.

Kate Forster said...

Thank you Stacey.

Dream weaver